Method of and apparatus for ringless spinning of fibers



J. STARY May 12, 1970 METHOD OF ANDAPPARATUS FOR RINGLESS SPINNING OFFIBERS Filed Jan. 15. 1969 6 Sheets-Sheet NVENTOR T085! 373R BY 4 A a.TfORNEY May 12, 1970 J STARY 3,511,044

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ATTORNEY METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR RINGLESS SPINNING OF FIBERS FiledJan. 16. 1969 J. STARY May 12, 1970 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 mvsm'c'm av 07h-91! u ATTORNEY J. STARY May 12, 1970 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FORRINGLESS SP INNING 0F FIBERS Filed Jan. 15, 1969 6 Sheets-Shae". 6

w zzM United States Patent M US. Cl. 5758.91 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A rotary spinning chamber has an internal circumferentialspinning surface and an open axial side. A stationary cover extends intothe open side closing the same and is provided with a passage bounded bya wall portion separating it from the interior of the chamber and havingan outlet end directed at and adjacent to the spinning surface. Feedmeans feeds a stream of fibers into the passage for advancementtherethrough and issue from the outlet for centrifugal deposition on thespinning surface. The wall portion is provided with one or moreapertures through which air from the interior of the spinning chambermay enter the passage inwardly of the outlet end thereof to therebyestablish an air cushion between the wall portion and the stream offibers advancing towards the outlet end.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to thecontinuous spinning of fibers, and more particularly to the continuousringless spinning of fibers in a rotating spinning chamber. Still moreparticularly the invention relates to a method and apparatus foreffecting such continuous ringless spinning.

It is known to spin separated fibers in a rotary spinning chamber byadvancing a stream of such fibers into the interior of the spinningchamber where they are deposited by centrifugal action on the interiorcircumferential spin ning surface from which they are then withdrawn inform of a yarn. In apparatus of this type known from the prior art it isgeneral practice to lead the fibers from the separating mechanism wherea sliver of fibers is separated into a stream of individual fibers, intothe rotary spinning chamber through a conveying passage which extendsroughly tangentially with reference to a combing-out roller of thecombing-out mechanism and which discharges into the interior of therotary spinning chamber in such a manner that the fibers are directed inthe shortest possible path onto the circumferential side wall whichmerges into the so-called collecting surface. The fibers are conveyed ina gaseous carrier medium, such as air, into the interior of the rotaryspinning chamber where they first impact upon a conically taperingcircumferential internal wall constituting a part of the spinningsurface and radially outwardly inclined or tapered towards the plane oflargest internal cross section of the spinning chamber where the actualconversion of the fibers into a yarn takes place. The fibers slide overthis wall from their point of original contact or impact until theyreach the plane of largest internal cross section where they becomedeposited in form of a ribbon-like structure which latter iscontinuously twisted into yarn which, in turn, is continuously withdrawnfrom the rotary spinning chamber.

The problem with this type of construction is that movement over thefibers through the conveying passage into the interior of the spinningchamber and prior to their issuance from the passage takes place infrictional engagement with the wall surfaces bounding the conveyingpassage. This, in turn, results in breaking of the fibers and 3,511,044Patented May 12, 1970 a change in their straight extended condition.Evidently, this has a detrimental effect and the ribbon which forms onthe spinning surface in the plane of largest internal cross section ofthe spinning chamber exhibits inferior parallelism of the fibers.Consequently, the yarn produced from such ribbon is possessed of thesame disadvantage and is of inferior quality.

In accordance with another known embodiment a cover is provided closingthe open axial side of a cylindrical rotating spinning chamber andextending partly into the interior of this spinning chamber. In thisprior-art construction the conveying channel discharges into an annulargroove provided in this cover and from there are distributed directlyonto the spinning surface of the rotary spinning chamber. The spinningsurface is provided with needles and with air-escape openings and thefibers deposited thereof are twisted and delivered in the form of ayarnagainst the action of the aforementioned needlesthrough a coaxialoutlet channel from the rotating spinning chamber. In this constructiona disadvantage in addition to the one outlined earlier is the fact thatfibers frequently are caught on the lowest portion of the an nulardistribution groove, occasioning the formation of fiber clusters which,when they are suddenly released by breaking free, give rise to breakagesin the yarn.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a general object of the present inventionto overcome these disadvantages.

A more particular object of the invention is to provide a method of andan apparatus for ringless spinning of fibers into a yarn wherein theaforementioned disadvantages are avoided with the result that the yarnproduced is of higher quality than heretofore possible.

In accordance with my novel method the fibers advancing in a streamthrough the fiber conveying passage are prevented from contact with thewall bounding the passage by the formation of an air cushion which isformed intermediate the stream of fibers and the aforementioned wallinwardly of the outlet of the fiber conveying passage.

My novel apparatus comprises a rotary spinning chamber having aninternal circumferential spinning surface and an open axial side. Suchspinning chambers are already known from the art. A stationary coverextends into the open side closing the same and is provided with apassage having an inlet and an outlet end directed at and adjacent tothe spinning surface. The passage is bounded by a wall portion whichseparates it from the interior of the chamber. Feed means communicateswith the inlet for feeding a stream of fibers into the same so thatthese fibers advance through the passage and issue from the outlet forcentrifugal deposition on the spinning surface. Further I provide meansfor effecting the establishment and maintenance of a cushion of airbetween the aforementioned wall portion and the stream of fibersadvancing in the passage, and this air cushion is established andmaintained in the outlet region of the passage inwardly adjacent theoutlet of the passage.

Advantageously the outlet portion of the fiber-conveying channel, whichis directed towards the spinning surface onto which the fibers are toimpact, extends in a plane normal to the rotational axis of the chamber.

Because the air cushion is formed by providing the wall portion boundingthe outlet zone of the fiber-conveying passage and facing the interiorof the spinning chamber, with one or more aperture sthrough whichturbulent air from the interior of the spinning chamber enters into theoutlet zone of the fiber-conveying passage, it is advantageous that theone or more apertures in this wall portion be inclined in directionoppositely the direction of rotation of the spinning chamber. Moreover,the edge portions bounding these apertures and located at that side ofthe wall portion which faces the interior of the chamber, areadvantageously slightly raised above the general plane of thatparticular side of the wall portion and inclined oppositely thedirection of the spinning chamber so as to in effect peel off theboundary layer sweeping along this side and directed into the one ormore apertures.

In accordanue with a further concept of my invention which isadvantageous from the point of view of easy production and maintenance,the wall portion in question may be a separate member which is rigidlybut removably secured to the remainder of the cover.

The outlet zone or portion of the fiber-conveying channel, that is thezone in which the air cushion is established and maintained, and whichextends transversely of the rotational axis of the spinning chamber, iselongated as has already been indicated and in accordance with oneembodiment will discharge at two points, that is it will have two outletor discharge openings.

A particularly advantageous guidance of fibers onto the innercircumferential spinning surface of the spinning chamber is obtained ifthe elongated outlet portion of the fiber-conveying channel is ofdrop-shaped form with the tapering end of this configuration facing thedirection of rotation of the spinning chamber and with the actual outletof the outlet zone discharging at a portion of are over thecircumference of the stationary cover. According to a furtheradvantageous embodiment the outlet zone may be shaped as a sector of arcand discharge in the similar manner as just outlined.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a vertical section through anarrangement embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a detail of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional detail view, on an enlarged scale, ofa portion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section through a fur ther embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but of a corresponding portion ofFIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the outlet portionof the fiber-conveying channel;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 but of yet a further embodiment ofthe outlet portion of the fiber-conveying channel;

FIG. 8 is a vertical section through the outlet portion of thefiber-conveying channel illustrating yet another embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 9 is an axial view of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a vertical section through a modification of the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 8; and

FIG. 11 is an axial view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 10.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Discussing firstly theembodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 it will be seen that referencenumeral 1 generally identifies a body portion or supporting portion 1 ofa machine, such as a frame or the like. Mounting on the portion 1 is amember 2 constituting the housing of a fiber-separating mechanism and itis provided with an upper cylindrical portion 11 projecting upwardly. Ina cavity provided in the member 2 there is mounted for rotation about anaxis -6 a feed roller 3, and contiguously thereto in another cavitymounted for rotation about an axis 7 is located a combing-out roller 4provided with a plurality of needles or projections 5 extending tangentially to the surface of the roller 4. The construction of the roller 4and of the feed roller 3 is well known in the art and requires nofurther description. Drives for the shafts constituting the axes 6 and 7are not illustrated; they may be conventional and derived from the maindrive of the machine.

The cavity 8 in which the combing-out roller 4 is located merges into afiber-conveying channel 9 as shown in FIG. 1, and this extends roughlytangentially with respect to the roller 4. It tapers in cross section inthe direction away from the roller 4 and mergesby changing itsdirectioninto an outlet portion 10 provided in the upper cylindricalportion 11 which constitutes a stationary closure or cover for the openside of a rotary spinning chamber 12 of known construction. The portion11 is surrounded by a circular groove 11a into which the lower free edgeportion of the rotary spinning chamber 12 extends without, however,contacting the portion 11 or the member 2 in any way.

As pointed out before, the spinning chamber 12 is already well known asto its construction. It suflices to point out that it comprises atransverse wall 121 in which there is formed a recess 122 and thatair-escape openings 123 are provided in the wall of the spinning chambercommunicating with the recess 122 so that, in response to rotation ofthe spinning chamber 12, air will escape through the openings 123 and anunderpressure will be created in the interior of the chamber. A sidewall 124, which may also be thought of as a slide wall because fibersslide over it subsequent to impacting thereupon, tapers conically indownward direction or, conversely, diverges radially outwardly andupwardly until it merges into the so-called collecting surface 125 inthe plane of the greatest inner circumference of the chamber 12. Theentire interior circumferential surface of the wall 124, including thecollecting surface 125, may be thought of as the spinning surface.

The spinning chamber 12 is fixed in known manner on a shaft 126 which issupported for free rotation in bearings 13 and 14 and which terminatesin a belt pulley 127. The bearings 13 and 14 are mounted again on themachine body or support 1 and a drive belt 15, shown only partially,engages the belt pulley 127 and is driven by a non-illustrated drive soas to impart rotation of the shaft 126 and thereby to the spinningchamber 12. A cover 16 surounds the spinning chamber and is mounted onthe member 2, being provided on an aperture 17 which serves as an airoutlet.

A withdrawal channel 18 extends through the member 2 and the cylindricalportion 11 in the rotational axis of the spinning chamber 12, axiallyspaced from the inner axial end of the roller 4, that is the end whichis not visible in FIG. 1. Driven withdrawing rollers 19 and 20 arelocated below the lower end of the channel 18 and serve to withdraw yarnfrom the interior of the spinning chamber and to forward it to a take-up21, illustrated only diagrammatically. An inlet 31 is provided in themember 2 communicating with the cavity in which the feed roller 3 ismounted for rotation, and a supply bobbin 22 of sliver 23 is mountedproximal to the inlet 31 for free rotation.

The free space within the spinning chamber 12 may roughly be divided forpurposes of better understanding of the invention into an annulardeposition zone (compare FIG. 4) which is illustrated by the shaded area128 and is located in close proximity to the wall 124, and atwist-and-withdrawal zone 129 located in the central area of the freespace of the spinning chamber 12 and identified by the other shaded areain FIG. 4.

As evident from FIG. 3, the arrangement of the outlet portion 10 of thefiber-conveying channel 9 is such that the wall portion 101 bounding theoutlet portion at the side facing the interior of the chamber 12 isinterposed between the twist-and-withdrawing zone 129 in this interiorand the stream of separated fibers 25 being conveyed through the outletportion 10. By provision of at least aperture 102-a plurality of suchapertures being shown in all illustrated embodimentsin the wall 101 theoutlet portion or outlet zone 10 of the channel 9 communicates with theinterior of the chamber 129, and more particularly withthetwist-and-withdrawing zone 129. The purpose is to permit entry of airfrom the interior of the chamber 12 through this one or more apertures102 into the outlet portion 10 to form a cushion between the wall 101and the advancing stream of fibers 25.

Advantageously, the outlet portion 10 of the channel 9 extends in aplane normal to the axis of rotation of the chamber 12 and the surfaces103 bounding the apertures 102 are inclined oppositely to the directionof rotation of spinning chamber 12 to assure that air is scooped orswept into these apertures 102.

Operation of my novel device wil be evident from what has been describedheretofore. The feed roller 3 withdraws sliver 23 from the supply bobbin22 and feeds it to the combing-out needles 5 of the rapidly rotatingcombing-out roller 4. The sliver is thus separated into a stream offibers 25 which, under the action of the rotating roller and thesimultaneous influence of underpressure generated in the spinningchamber 12 by provision of the air-escape openings 23, advances into andthrough the fiber-conveying channel 9. Because the channel tapers incross section in downstream direction, the carrier medium with thefibers 25-in this case air-is accelerated and thus serves to straightenthe fibers that are being advanced towards the outlet portions 10.

The transition of the separated fibers 25, accompanied by the change ofdirection of their flow as they enter from the main portion of thechannel 9 into the outlet portion 10, imparts to the fibers a tendencyto displace themselves and come into contact with the wall 101 with thedisadvantages mentioned in the introduction portion of thisspecification. This is effectively prevented by the air cushion107-represented by the shaded area 107 in FIG. 3formed and maintained bythe air stream entering from the interior of the spinning chamber 12through the openings 102 into the outlet portion of the channel 9. Theair cushion 107 prevents the separated fibers from contacting the wall101 and thus from being slowed in their advance, from becoming deformedin the sense of becoming tangled or having their straight configurationchanged to a different configuration, and from impairing theirparallelism in the finished yarn. Thus, the separated fibers 25 glideupon the air cushion 107 and, after leaving the outlet portion 10 of thechannel 9 they reach the deposition zone 128 and contact the wall 124 ofthe rotating spinning chamber 12. Under the action of the centrifugalforce resulting from this rotation they slide on the wall 124 onto thecollecting surface 125 where they become deposited in the form aribbon-like structure 26 as shown in FIG. 3.

When the device is started up, a length of yarn is conveyed from thedownstream end of the channel 18 through the channel into the interiorof the spinning chamber and under the influence of the centrifugal forcebecomes deposited with its end against the ribbon 26 formed on thecollecting surface 125. Thereafter, the inserted yarn is withdrawnthrough the channel 18 under the action of the rollers 1'9 and 20 andwound onto the take-up 21. This causes the ribbon 26 to be removed fromthe collecting surface 125 and to be continuously withdrawn through thechannel 18, and this ribbon is being continuously replenished bydeposition of fibers 25 on the surface 125. The rotation of the spinningchamber 12 effects twisting of the ribbon 26 particularly in the areabetween the inlet of the channel 18 and the collecting surface 125 whichis represented in FIG. 4 by the 6 shaded area designated as thetwist-and-withdrawal zone 129.

By locating the discharge opening of the outlet portion 10 in closeproximity with the wall 124 the fibers are prevented from escaping intothe twist-and-withdrawing zone 129; as a consequence they are kept frombeing partly spun-in into the yarn which is being withdrawn and this isadvantageous because they would impair the quality of the yarn. Whirlingof air in the space of the spinning chamber and the pneumatic conditionsin the channel 9 and the outlet portion 10 are so chosen as to inducestreaming of air through the holes 102 into the outlet portion 10 andformation of the air cushion 107, thereby preventing the separatedfibers 125 from contacting the wall 101 or even from passing through theholes 102 into the twist-and-withdrawal zone 129.

In the embodiments of FIGS. 4 and 5, the outlet por tion 10 of thechannel 9 extends transversely across the entire potrion 11 so that ithas, as viewed in axial direction, an elongated shape and discharges attwo discharge openings located at spaced parts of the cylindricalportion 117 This is clearly illustrated in the drawing.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6 the outlet portion 10 has the form of asector of an arc and its outlet opening is such as to discharge over aportion of the circumferential edge face of the cylindrical portion 11.The openings 102 are provided only in that portion of the wall 101 underwhich the separated fibers 25 pass to the outlet opening.

The embodiment of FIG. 7 is quite similar to that of FIG. 6 except herethe outlet portion 10 has a dropshaped form with the entry of theseparated fibers 25 from channel 9 into the outlet portion 10 beinglocated approximately at the point of greatest enlargement of the dropand with the cross section of the drop tapering in the direction ofrotation of the spinning chamber 12. The discharge opening is againconfigurated in the manner as shown in FIG. 6. The drop-shaped form ofthe outlet portion 10 corresponds roughly to the shape of flow of theseparated fibers which they would assume if the vertical side wall 104bounding the portion 10 were not a factor limiting this shape.

In the embodiments of FIGS. 8 and 9, the wall 101 is a separate discretemember, which may for instance be made of sheet metal or the like, andwhich is attached rigidly but removably to the cylindrical portion 11 bya screw 105 or an analogous means. Here the apertures 102 are providedby forming slots in the wall 101 and upwardly deflecting edge portionsbounding these slots, that is deflecting them into the interior of thechamber 12 to thereby peel the boundary layer of air sweeping over theupper surface of the wall 101 and guided into the slots 106.

The embodiment of FIGS. 10 and 11, finally, shows the Wall 101 again tobe in form of a discrete member which, as in FIGS. 8 and 9, may be anapproximately arcuate segment and which is attached by screw 105 to theportion 11. In FIGS. 10 and 11 the upper edges 108 bounding theapertures 102 are configurated as cutting edges to provide still furtherpeeling of the boundary layer. This is advantageous if particular and aparticularly strong air cushion is desired in the interior of theportion 10.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofconstructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and dscribed as embodied in anarrangement for ringless spinning of fibers into yarn, it is not.intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modificationsand structural changes may be made without departing in any way from thespirit of the present invention.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for ringless spinning of fibers into yarn, comprising arotary spinning chamber having an internal circumferential spinningsurface and an open axial side; a stationary cover extending into saidopen side closing the same and being provided with a passage having aninlet and an outlet end directed at and adjacent to said spinningsurface, said passage being bounded by a wall portion separating it fromthe interior of said chamber; feed means communicating with said inletfor feeding a stream of fibers into the same so that such fibers advancethrough said passage and issue from said outlet for centrifugaldeposition on said spinning surface; and means for effectingestablishment and maintenance of a cushion of air between said wallportion and the stream of fibers in said passage in the outlet wallregion of said passage inwardly adjacent said outlet of said passage.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, said means comprising at least oneaperture provided in said wall portion in said region so as to permitentry of agitated air from,the interior of said chamber into saidpassage.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, said spinning chamber rotating in apredetermined direction, and said aperture being inclined oppositelysaid predetermined direction so as to facilitate entry of air from theinterior of said spinning chamber through said aperture into said outletzone of said passage.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 3, wall portion is provided with atleast one slot constituting said aperture, and wherein an edge portionbounding said slot is deformed into said spinning chamber and inclinedopposite said predetermined direction of rotation.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein said aperture is bounded atthe side of said wall portion facing the interior of said chamber by asharp edge inclined in direction opposite the rotation of said spinningchamber.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, said means further comprising atleast one additional aperture similar to said one aperture.

7. Apparatus 'as defined in claim 1, said spinning chamber having anaxis of rotation, and said outlet zone of said passage extending in aplane substantially normal to said axis of rotation.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, said wall portion being constitutedby a discrete member; and further comprising connecting means fixedlybut removably connecting said discrete member with the remainder of saidstationary cover.

9. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, said outlet zone being elongated indirection transversely of the axis of rotation of said spinning chamberand having opposite ends each provided with an outlet openingdischarging onto said spinning surface.

10. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, at least the part of said coverwhich extends into said spinning chamber being cylindrical, and saidoutlet zone being of substantially drop-shaped configuration elongatedin direction transversely of the axis of rotation of said spinningchamber and tapering in direction of rotation thereof; and wherein saidoutlet is provided in a circumferential edge face of said part of saidcover extending over a portion of arc.

11. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, at least the part of said coverwhich extends into said spinning chamber being cylindrical and providedwith a circumferential edge face, said outlet zone being configurated indirection transversely of the axis of said spinning chamber in form of aportion of arc; and wherein said outlet is provided in saidcircumferential edge face and extends over a portion of arc in said edgeface.

12. A method of ringless spinning of fibers into yarn in a rotaryunderpressure spinning chamber having an internal circumferentialspinning surface and an open side closed by a stationary cover,comprising the steps of ad vancing a confined stream of fibers through apassage in said cover in direction towards said spinning surface;effecting formation of a cushion of air within the end portion of saidpassage inwardly of the outlet thereof and intermediate said stream offibers and at least one wall bounding said passage; collecting thefibers issuing from said passage under the influence of centrifugalforce on said spinning surface under concomitant conversion of the thuscollected fibers into a yarn; and withdrawing said yarn from said rotaryspinning chamber.

JOHN PETRAKES, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 5758.95, 156

